Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

A poorly known species, occasional in the Boyagin Rock Reserve near Brookton and the Saddleback Timber Reserve near Boddington with two outlying populations, one near Narrogin, the other near Hyden, in south-western W.A.

Description

Spreading much-branched shrub 0.4–1. m high. Branchlets appressed-puberulous. Phyllodes patent to inclined, rarely slightly deflexed, narrowly oblong to oblong-oblanceolate or broadly elliptic, straight or recurved, 10–25 (–30) mm long, 3–4.5 (–6) mm wide, rounded-obtuse and excentrically mucronulate, coriaceous, glabrous or appressed-puberulous on nerves, with 3 prominent distant nerves on each face; gland 1–3 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple, 1 or 2 per axil; peduncles 2–4 mm long, appressed-puberulous; basal bract caducous, cucullate, oblate, strongly 3-nerved; heads globular, 3–4 mm diam., 9–18-flowered, golden. Flowers 5‑merous; sepals free. Pods linear, raised over and slightly constricted between seeds, strongly curved to openly once-coiled, to 5 cm long, 2 mm wide, firmly chartaceous or thin-crustaceous, nearly glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, ovate-elliptic, 2 mm long, dull, black; aril subapical.

Habitat

Grows in open heath dominated by Dryandra carduacea or in Eucalyptus drummondii low woodland in laterite-gravel.

Specimens

W.A.: near Narrogin, Mar. 1938, W.E.Blackall s.n. (PERTH); W margin of Boyagin Rock Reserve near entrance, R.S. & R.A.Cowan A867 (MEL, NSW, PERTH); Worsley Mine Site, 10 km S of Boddington, J.M.Koch JK148 (PERTH); 35 km E of Billericay [near Hyden], K.Newbey 3236 (MEL, PERTH).

Notes

Nearest to A. deflexa which has patent hairs on its puberulous branchlets and peduncles, commonly deflexed phyllodes with the gland situated at the distal end of the pulvinus and nerveless basal peduncular bracts. Both species are probably a part of the ‘A. sulcata group’, near A. nitidula and A. dura in particular.

FOA Reference

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia

Author

R.S.Cowan

Minor edits by J.Reid